White House: Obama would veto 'piecemeal' funding bills

10/1/13 5:33 PM EDT

President Obama would veto any piecemeal bill funding only parts of the federal government and not resolving the whole government shutdown, the White House said Tuesday.

The president and the Senate have been clear that they won’t accept this kind of game-playing, and if these bills were to come to the president’s desk he would veto them, White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said in a statement, responding to the plans under consideration by House Republicans.

"These piecemeal efforts are not serious, and they are no way to run a government," she said. "If House Republicans are legitimately concerned about the impacts of a shutdown -- which extend across government from our small businesses to women, children and seniors -- they should do their job and pass a clean CR to reopen the government."

House Republicans plan to vote Tuesday on small, non-controversial bills to fund certain federal functions, including the National Park Service, veterans affairs and, through the use of local revenues, the District of Columbia government.

The House, she said, repeating the White House's established position, should pass a clean continuing resolution like the one that the Senate has passed. "It is time for Congress to do its job."

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), said that the White House's "position is unsustainably hypocritical."

"How does the White House justify signing the troop funding bill, but vetoing similar measures for veterans, National Parks, and District of Columbia?" he asked. "The president can't continue to complain about the impact of the government shutdown on veterans, visitors at National Parks, and DC while vetoing bills to help them."